Department for Transport

Railway Stations: North West

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has plans to include duties on wheelchair accessibility from the platform to the train in the next franchise for the West Coast Mainline at (a) Lancaster and (b) Wigan North Western.

Andrew Jones: Both Lancaster and Wigan North Western stations have full step free access to and between‎ platforms, with staff operated boarding ramps provided for wheelchair users to board or alight from trains. These facilities will be retained under the next franchise.

Motor Vehicles: Insurance

Naz Shah: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment his Department has made of the affordability of motor vehicle insurance in the UK.

Andrew Jones: The Autumn Statement 2015 announced the government will bring forward measures to reduce the excessive costs arising from unnecessary whiplash claims. As the industry is competitive we expect average savings of £40 to £50 per motor insurance policy to be passed onto customers. Some insurers have already committed to pass on all savings to consumers as a result of the proposed changes. The Department for Transport has also held a number of recent meetings with the motor insurance industry, for example to discuss young driver safety and technology measures which can reduce the cost of insurance The pricing of individual insurance products is a commercial matter for insurers.

HM Coastguard

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the projected cost savings are from the closure of the Marine Offices in (a) Brixham, (b) Leith and (c) Newlyn; and what the value is of (i) land and (ii) buildings on each site.

Mr Robert Goodwill: (a) The Brixham Marine Office was co-located with the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre that closed on 31 October 2014 when the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) stopped search and rescue coordination from there. The Brixham building was disposed of on 22 May 15, realising a value of £1.2M for the (i) land and (ii) building combined. (b) The lapse of the Leith Marine Office lease will realise a saving of £17K per annum. The only value to the MCA is the value of the lease. The value of the (i) land and (ii) building assets reside with landlord. (c) The Newlyn Office lease was surrendered on 30 April 2015, realising a saving of £1K per annum. The only value to the MCA is the value of the lease. The value of the (i) land and (ii) building assets reside with landlord.

Transport: Freight

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the potential costs to the UK freight sector of the UK leaving the EU.

Claire Perry: At the February European Council, the Government negotiated a new settlement, giving the United Kingdom a special status in a reformed European Union. The Government's position is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU. The outcome of the EU Referendum for particular areas of regulation, including the UK freight sector, would depend on the relationship agreed between the EU and the UK if there is a vote to leave. This would have to be negotiated using the detailed processes set out in the EU Treaty. The Government has published several information documents, setting out the Government's views on UK membership of the EU; the process for withdrawing from the EU; and alternatives to EU membership. The documents can be viewed at www.eureferendum.gov.uk.

Ports

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the potential cost to UK ports of the UK leaving the EU.

Mr Robert Goodwill: At the February European Council, the Government negotiated a new settlement, giving the United Kingdom a special status in a reformed European Union. The Government's position is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU. The outcome of the EU Referendum for particular sectors, including UK ports, would depend on the relationship agreed between the EU and the UK if there is a vote to leave. This would have to be negotiated using the detailed processes set out in the EU Treaty. The Government has published several information documents, setting out the Government's views on UK membership of the EU; the process for withdrawing from the EU; and alternatives to EU membership. The documents can be viewed at www.eureferendum.gov.uk.

HM Coastguard

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the projected cost savings are from the proposed closure of the Marine Offices in (a) Beverley, (b) Orpington and (c) Harwich in 2018; and what the value is of (i) land and (ii) buildings on each site.

Mr Robert Goodwill: (a) The projected savings from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) operating out of their own facility at Bridlington and closing Beverley Marine Office would be £90K per annum. The only value to the MCA is the value of the lease. The value of (i) land and (ii) building assets reside with the landlord. (b) The projected savings from stopping operation from Orpington Marine Office would be £75K per annum. The only value to the MCA is the value of the lease. The value of the (i) land and (ii) building assets reside with the landlord. (c) Stopping the survey functions from the Harwich Marine Office, based at Walton-on-the Naze, will introduce minimal cost savings to the MCA. Moving to a new location in the Ipswich area would improve survey and inspection service capability to customers and is a better option for support to Her Majesty’s Coastguard Coastal Safety management teams.The Harwich site has a book value of (i) £184K for the land and (ii) £530K for the building.

Roads: Gloucestershire

Luke Hall: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding his Department is making available to the South Gloucestershire Unitary Authority for completion of new road projects.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Department’s funding for major road projects sits within the Local Growth Fund. The West of England Local Enterprise Partnership, which includes South Gloucestershire, has already been allocated £230.7m from the Local Growth Fund from 2015/16 to 2020/21 to take forward their growth priorities, including transport projects. Up to a further £1.8bn from the Local Growth Fund will be awarded competitively to LEPs later this year, with an additional £475m available for exceptionally large transport projects.

Dartford-Thurrock Crossing: Tolls

Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made representations to Sanef Tolling about the length of time taken between a penalty notice being issued under the Dart Charge scheme  and the date of the offence.

Andrew Jones: Both my Rt Hon Friend, the Secretary of State and I have held meetings with and written to Sanef during the opening year of the service, concerning performance issues and the timely issuing of Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs). Highways England worked with Sanef to improve performance and currently the majority of PCNs are now being issued between 5 and 15 days of the contravention taking place.

Dartford-Thurrock Crossing: Tolls

Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average time was between a penalty notice being issued under the Dart Charge scheme and the date of the offence in each month since the start of that scheme.

Andrew Jones: The data sought is not held in the format requested and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. A sample analysis of data available shows that currently the majority of Penalty Charge Notices are issued between 5 and 15 days of the contravention.

A417: Gloucestershire

Alex Chalk: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been made on preparation for the expected start of construction works to the A417 Missing Link in Gloucestershire in 2020.

Andrew Jones: Highways England will start full scale options work on the scheme in financial year 2016/17, with the intention that the scheme will be ready to start construction as early as possible in the next Road Period.

Shipping: North Sea

Gavin Newlands: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will provide support to British shipping companies operating in the North Sea to enable them to recruit and retain more British crew members.

Mr Robert Goodwill: With regard to the issue of retention of British crew members operating in the North Sea, I would refer the Hon Member to my answer of 25 April, UIN 34463 (http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-questions-answers/?page=1&max=20&questiontype=AllQuestions&house=commons%2clords&uin=34463). The Department continues to provide support for the training of UK officers and ratings through the £15m Support for Maritime Training (SMarT) scheme. Apprenticeships are at the heart of the Government’s drive to give people of all ages the skills employers need to grow and compete. Maritime is a key part of this with the Maritime Trailblazer which is employer led and has one approved standard for deck ratings and a further three in development for maritime mechanic, maritime caterer and onboard services. We are also working to address the skills recommendations of the Maritime Growth Study, chaired by Lord Mountevans and published on 7 September 2015, including conducting a review of SMarT funding, better links into schools teaching and enlarging the awareness programme to encourage entry into the merchant navy.

Motor Vehicles: Environment Protection

David Mackintosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to encourage car manufacturers to adopt green and hybrid technologies.

Andrew Jones: The UK offers one of the most comprehensive packages of support for ultra low emission vehicles in the world. This includes the plug-in car and van grants, support for infrastructure, investment in R&D, and the ground breaking government-industry communications campaign, ‘Go Ultra Low’. The government recently committed over £600m over the course of this parliament to support the take up and manufacture of ultra low emission vehicles, and has set itself the ambitious goal that by 2050 nearly all cars and vans should be zero emission. We are also active in the EU in pushing for ambitious regulation of the CO2 emissions of new cars, which will encourage the increasing deployment of new greener technologies.

Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many staff work at the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles; and where those staff are drawn from.

Andrew Jones: 9 staff work at the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles. 5 are employed by the Department for Transport and 4 are employed by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Network Rail

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 10 March 2016 to Question 30100, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of preparing and publishing the Shaw Report: Final Report and Recommendations, published on 16 March 2016.

Claire Perry: The Department’s estimated incremental cost of preparing and publishing the Shaw Report is £875,919.

Euston Station

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 14 April 2016 to Question 33386, when he expects that the work to produce a plan to progress the initial feasibility and business case for a Euston Station masterplan will be completed.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Department, Network Rail and HS2 Ltd are currently working together to produce a plan to progress the initial feasibility and business case work needed for this project over the next two years, which will include the timing, resource required, and estimated cost. We expect to complete this plan by Summer 2016.

Shipping: Accidents

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's policy of the recommendations by the Maritime Accident Investigation Branch in its review of the sinking of the Cemfjord; what discussions his Department has had with the Maritime Coastguard Agency on implementing those recommendations; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Maritime Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) report into the sinking of the Cemfjord was published on the 21 April. The Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) is carefully considering the recommendations about maritime safety information, ship reporting and routeing, and monitoring. None of the recommendations in the MAIB report are addressed specifically to the Department. However, the Department takes these findings, and those from other MAIB reports, into consideration in the development of policy and in its interactions in international forums on these issues.

Aviation: Security

Dr Tania Mathias: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on the security of airports of security scanning all bags before they are allowed into an airport building.

Mr Robert Goodwill: We regularly assess all threats to aviation security along with appropriate response measures. Following the recent attacks at Brussels Airport, measures were put in place to enhance the protection of public areas at UK airports. We do not currently assess that requiring all bags to be scanned at the entrance to airport building would be an effective and proportionate response, but we will continue to work with airports and the police to keep this and other possible measures under review.

Taxis: Greater London

Sir Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to maintain the ability of London taxi drivers exclusively to ply for hire.

Andrew Jones: The Government is responsible for the legislative structure within which local licensing authorities deliver the licensing regime for taxis and private hire vehicles. Enforcement of the licensing regime, including ensuring that private hire vehicles do not illegally ply for hire, is therefore a matter for local licensing authorities and the police.

Taxis

Sir Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his policy is on allowing private hire cars to ply for hire.

Andrew Jones: Private hire vehicles cannot legally ply for hire. The Government is responsible for the legislative structure within which local licensing authorities deliver the licensing regime for taxis and private hire vehicles. Enforcement of the licensing regime, including ensuring that private hire vehicles do not illegally ply for hire, is a matter for local licensing authorities and the police.

Road Traffic

Mr Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the change in total traffic volumes across the entire road network over present levels by (a) 2020, (b) 2030 and (c) 2040.

Andrew Jones: The Department’s most recent published road traffic forecast for England was published in 2015. Compared to the traffic volumes in 2014, the latest year for which traffic statistics are available for England, the Department forecasts that traffic volumes will be:a) 4-20% higher in 2020b) 11-38% higher in 2030c) 15-52% higher in 2040More detailed information can be found on the Department for Transport pages on GOV.UK.

Roads: Repairs and Maintenance

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that roadworks cause less disruption to motorists.

Andrew Jones: The Government wants to deliver better journeys for drivers. Roadworks are essential, but that doesn’t mean they should be in place any longer than is absolutely necessary. We are currently consulting on changes that will reduce the congestion caused by roadworks on local ‘A’ road from works left in place at the weekend but where no work is happening, and to remove temporary traffic lights as soon as the works are complete. We have asked Highways England to look closely at reducing the length of roadworks on the Strategic Road Network. This is being reflected in the next phase of smart motorway schemes, where Highways England are reducing both the length (distance) and duration (time they are in place) of roadworks. Highways England are also considering the use of higher speed limits through roadworks, where this can be done safely. Subject to safety assessments, Highway England will be starting a trial of higher speed limits on roadworks later this year.

Railways: South West

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the economic benefits of the construction of a second rail line into the South West.

Claire Perry: The reinstatement of the Exeter - Okehampton - Plymouth route and the economic value of re-opening it is being looked at by the Peninsula Rail Task Force (PRTF). They will report to the Secretary of State in July 2016.

Office of Rail and Road: Performance Standards

Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the operational performance of the Office for Rail and Road.

Claire Perry: The Government is constantly looking to ensure the most effective regulatory regime is in place so that the railway delivers for its customers. This has included, most recently, a review of the roles and responsibilities of the Office of the Rail and Road. The outcomes of this were announced to the House on 17 March.

Transport: Infrastructure

Jack Lopresti: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department has had with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on supporting skills development to help deliver the Government's transport infrastructure programmes.

Andrew Jones: The Transport Infrastructure Skills Strategy published in January this year sets out our plans, among which our ambition to create thirty thousand apprenticeships in the roads and rail sectors by 2020. Earlier this month we launched the taskforce that will implement the strategy, chaired by Simon Kirby, CEO of HS2 Ltd. These steps have been carried out in consultation with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Her Majesty’s Treasury and other partners across Government.

Regional Airports

Ian Blackford: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to review the effectiveness of the public service obligation for regional airports.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Government plans to update its Aviation Policy Framework this year. As part of this update the Government will consider the role that public service obligations can play in serving regional airports.

Northern Rail: Subsidies

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of changes to the subsidy profile for the Northern Rail franchise on the quality of rail services.

Claire Perry: Thanks to the work of this Government, the hon. Lady’s constituents will benefit from a transformed rail service under the new franchise. In addition, this improvement for passengers will be provided while improving the value for money of the operation for the benefit of all tax payers.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken to ensure that high speed rail will interconnect effectively with the rest of  the transport network.

Mr Patrick McLoughlin: HS2 will not be a separate, standalone railway. It will be an integrated part of a 21st Century transport network. Through our interchange stations, classic compatible trains and exploitation of the released capacity we will deliver the integrated service that passengers need. Our work with local areas to implement Growth Strategies will ensure HS2 integrates with local transport networks.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Non-domestic Rates: Industry

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the potential effect of the devolution of business rates on business growth in (a) former steel works and coalfield areas and (b) other local authority areas with a depleted industrial base.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Government intends to move to 100 per cent business rates retention in England by the end of this Parliament. The new system will have stronger incentives to boost growth, and areas that take bold decisions to further increase growth will see the benefits. We will be giving councils the power to cut the business rates multiplier to improve the business environment for enterprise and attract further businesses to their area. But we recognise that not all councils are the same. In setting up this system we will ensure that there is redistribution between councils so that areas do not lose out just because they currently collect less in local business rates, and will put protections in place for authorities that see their business rates income fall significantly.

Members: Correspondence

Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he intends to answer the letter to him dated 10 March 2016 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Ms B Touhy.

Mr Marcus Jones: A reply was sent to the right hon. Member on 26 April.

Local Government: Pensions

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the responses to the non-financial factors section of the recent consultation on revoking and replacing the Local Government Pension Scheme.

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what further steps he plans to take to ensure that local government pension scheme members are consulted on proposed guidance on the ability of local government to account for non-financial factors in pension scheme investment decisions; and what steps he plans to take to ensure that that proposed guidance will be subject to parliamentary scrutiny.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Government’s response to the consultation, which will set out our next steps in relation to these issues, will be published shortly.

Combined Authorities: Legal Costs

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on the amount paid in legal fees as part of the Combined Authority negotiation process to date; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Mark Francois: This Department has not procured any external legal support in the negotiation of devolution deals or the creation of combined authorities, and therefore has not paid any legal fees as part of those processes.

Communities and Local Government: Hotels

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many hotel bookings were made for (a) ministers, (b) special advisers and (c) officials in his Department during the negotiation processes for local authority devolution deals in each of the last three years.

Mr Mark Francois: Ministers, special advisers and civil servants in this department undertake a variety of visits to support the delivery of Government’s devolution and local growth objectives and other departmental business. We do not hold figures for the number of hotel bookings made specifically to support the negotiation of devolution deals.

Communities and Local Government: Taxis

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many taxi journeys were made by (a) ministers, (b) special advisers and (c) officials of his Department for official purposes during the negotiation processes for local authority devolution deals in each of the last three years.

Mr Mark Francois: Ministers, special advisers and civil servants in this department undertake a variety of visits to support the delivery of Government’s devolution and local growth objectives and other departmental business. We do not hold figures for the number of taxi journeys undertaken specifically to support the negotiation of devolution deals.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Maldives: Politics and Government

Julie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 10 March 2016 to Question 29629, if the Government will make it its policy to introduce targeted sanctions against individual members of the Maldivian government if the recommendations of the Commonwealth Action Group are not implemented in the next 12 months.

Mr Hugo Swire: Following its meeting on 20 April, the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) set a revised deadline of September for clear and measurable progress to be delivered in the six areas of concern, identified at their previous meeting in February. It will be for CMAG to assess what progress has been made by September and to decide what collective action may be required. If CMAG assesses sufficient steps have not been taken, the UK will carefully consider appropriate bilateral action to help support reform efforts in the Maldives.

Kashmir: Politics and Government

Julie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Indian government on recent protests and clashes in the Handwara and Kupwara districts in Kashmir.

Mr Hugo Swire: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 26 April to PQ 34371 and 34380.

North Korea: Nuclear Weapons

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his US and Japanese counterparts about nuclear tests by North Korea.

Mr Hugo Swire: I raised this issue with US colleagues in Washington last week. The UK condemns the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea's (DPRK) continued development of its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. We have regular contact with key partners on this issue, including the US and Japan. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) discussed the issue with his counterparts at the G7 Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Hiroshima on 11 April. The G7 issued a joint communiqué [http://www.mofa.go.jp/files/000147440.pdf] which strongly condemned the DPRK’s nuclear tests and called upon the international community to enforce the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions to respond to the clear and continuing threat to international peace and security that is posed by the DPRK’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

USA: LGBT People

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his US counterpart on LGBT rights in North Carolina and Mississippi.

Mr Hugo Swire: Our Consul General in Atlanta raised our concerns with the North Carolina Commerce Secretary on 19 April. We have amended our Travel Advice for the United States to reflect legislative changes on LGBT rights in North Carolina and Mississippi . This Government is opposed to all forms of discrimination. We are committed to ensuring that all LGBT people are free to live their lives in a safe and just environment.

Giulio Regeni

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when the Government has made representations to the Egyptian government on the case of Giulio Regeni; whether those representations were made by Ministers or by HM Ambassador to Egypt; and which of those representations were made in person.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We regularly raise the case of Giulio Regeni with the Egyptian authorities. Most recently, I raised our concerns in a call to the Egyptian Ambassador on 11 April. These concerns have been reiterated by senior diplomats including the Permanent Under Secretary, Simon McDonald, who raised Mr Regeni’s case with the Egyptian Ambassador when they met on 11 April. Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Cairo raised the case directly with the Egyptian Prime Minister’s security advisor on 3 March; both he and officials in Cairo and London continue to raise the case on a regular basis, most recently in mid April.The Government published a response to the petition regarding Mr Regeni on 25th April: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/120832

Giulio Regeni

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the case of Giulio Regeni was raised with the Egyptian government by the Prime Minister's Special Envoy to Egypt during his visit to Egypt in February 2016.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Prime Minister’s trade envoy to Egypt, Jeffrey Donaldson MP, visited Egypt between 7 and 11 February 2016. The trade envoy discussed a range of issues but given his role focused on business conversations and promoting trade links. We regularly raise the case of Guilio Regeni with the Egyptian authorities including at Ministerial and senior official level.

Yemen: Military Intervention

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government has investigated the airstrikes of 3 June 2015 in al-'Eram and Sa'da, Yemen.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Saudi Arabian authorities have their own internal procedures for investigations and they announced more detail of how they investigate incidents of concern at a press conference on 31 January. It is important that all sides conduct thorough and conclusive investigations into all incidents where it is alleged that civilians have been targeted.

Bangladesh: LGBT People

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will publicly condemn the killing of Xulhaz Mamas, senior editor of Bangladesh's first LGBT magazine; if he will make representations to the Bangladeshi government on that matter; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Hugo Swire: The British Government unequivocally condemns the murder of Xulhaz Mannan. On 25 April I expressed my deep sadness at the senseless murders of Mr Mannan, his friend Tanay Fahim and Professor Rezaul Karim and I called for the killers to be brought to justice. On 9 April, following the brutal murder of Nazimuddin Samad, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood) called for the right to freedom of expression and open debate to be upheld in Bangladesh.Regrettably, the number of violent extremist attacks against minority communities has increased in Bangladesh; many have been claimed by Al-Qaeda in the Indian-Subcontinent and Daesh. Extremism flourishes where there is a culture of intolerance and impunity. I urge the Bangladesh government to do its utmost to bring the perpetrators of these crimes to justice and to ensure that the right to life, to justice and to free speech for all Bangladeshis is upheld.

Egypt: Human Trafficking

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to work with the Egyptian government to prevent people traffickers operating from (a) Alexandria and (b) other Egyptian ports.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Government officials regularly engage the Egyptian authorities on irregular migration. Most recently, senior officials from the Home Office met their Egyptian counterparts on 27 April to discuss a range of issues, including how best to co-operate on countering irregular migration. They are now considering what areas of technical expertise and programmatic support we can provide the Egyptian authorities to strengthen their enforcement capabilities. The UK is also contributing to the “European Union Naval Force – Mediterranean” mission, aimed at disrupting human smuggling and trafficking networks in the Mediterranean and reducing the loss of life at sea.

Middle East: Crimes against Humanity

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government has (a) drafted a motion for or (b) discussed a draft of a motion with other members of the UN Security Council since 20 April 2016 that would refer the perpetrators of suspected (i) genocide and (ii) war crimes in Syria or Iraq to the International Criminal Court.

Mr Philip Hammond: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Egypt: Human Trafficking

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) migrants and (b) people seeking asylum who have attempted to travel to Europe via Egypt in each of the last two years.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We do not hold figures for the number of migrants and asylum seekers who have attempted to travel to Europe via Egypt. According to the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders (Frontex), in 2014 there were 170,760 detections of illegal border-crossings on the Central Mediterranean route (not only from Egypt). In 2015, the number of detections was 153,946.

China: Human Rights

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 11 April 2016 to Question 32522, who the 22 Tibetans referred to in that Answer are; and what the response was of the Chinese authorities in the case of each such Tibetan.

Mr Hugo Swire: We included the cases of nine Tibetans detained by the Chinese authorities on a list of cases submitted to the Chinese delegation ahead of the 2015 UK-China Human Rights Dialogue. These included Tenzin Delek Rinpoche and Dhondup Wangchen. In 2014, we included the names of 16 Tibetan individuals on our case list. Three cases, including Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, appeared on both case lists. The UK-China Human Rights Dialogue is a platform for detailed, expert exchanges on human rights issues. We do not make our full case lists public as in some cases the individuals concerned do not want us to. We do not publish Chinese responses to cases raised as we assess this will be counter-productive. We continue to make our concerns about the human rights situation in China, including Tibet, known publicly via other means, such as in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy.

Arctic

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Russian government on the Arctic.

Mr David Lidington: The UK has not recently discussed the Arctic bilaterally with the Russian government. The UK is a State Observer at the Arctic Council, of which the Russian Federation is a full member. The UK participates in all Arctic Council meetings, including the most recent senior official meeting in March 2016.

Middle East: Crimes against Humanity

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on 20 April 2016, Official Report, column 995, what steps the Government is taking to support the (a) gathering and (b) preservation of evidence of crimes that could in future be used in a court to hold Daesh to account.

Mr Philip Hammond: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Middle East: Crimes against Humanity

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on 20 April 2016, Official Report, column 995, whether any UN Security Council member has blocked an initiative to refer the perpetrators of suspected genocide and war crimes by Daesh in Syria and Iraq to the International Criminal Court.

Mr Philip Hammond: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

China: Human Rights

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the response of the government of China was to representations the Government made to it during the UK-China Human Rights Dialogues held in Beijing in April 2015 and in London in 2014 on human rights violations against Tibetans.

Mr Hugo Swire: I should like to refer my Hon. Friend the Member of East Worthing and Shoreham (Tim Loughton) to my response to PQ35360.

Middle East: Crimes against Humanity

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on 20 April 2016, Official Report, column 996, what evidence has been gathered and preserved of potential (a) war crimes and (b) genocide in (i) Syria and (ii) Iraq.

Mr Philip Hammond: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Israel: Palestinians

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 25 April 2016 to Question 34839, on what date the UK Embassy in Tel Aviv last raised the issue of demolitions with the Israeli government; and whether the specific question of the villages of Susiya and Um Al Hiran was raised with the government of Israel.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Our Embassy in Tel Aviv most recently raised concerns with the Israeli Government over the increase in demolitions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories on 21 April 2016. We did not specifically raise Susiya, or Bedouin villages such as Umm al-Hiran in southern Israel at this time.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Further Education: Greater London

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 1 March 2016 to Question 21634, when he plans to deposit in the Library information on the end of year budget surplus or deficit for each further education college in London in each financial year since 2010-11.

Nick Boles: Holding answer received on 11 April 2016



I apologise to the Rt Hon Member for the delay. The information will be deposited shortly with the most recent figures available included.

Land Registry

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what his policy is on the increase of fees for (a) statutory and (b) non-statutory functions of the Land Registry above (i) operating costs and (ii) inflation in the event that the Land Registry is privatised under the Government's preferred model of privatisation with a contract between Government and a private operator.

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether the statutory duties imposed on the independent regulator will ensure that fees for (a) statutory functions and (b) non-statutory functions of the Land Registry will (i) not increase above operating costs and (ii) not increase above inflation in the event that the Land Registry is privatised under the Government's alternative model of privatisation with economic regulation.

Anna Soubry: Under a contract-based approach, fees would still be prescribed in fee orders made by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and set before Parliament. Under a regulator-based approach, fees would be controlled by the regulator.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: Staff

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many (a) full-time equivalent civil servants work in his Department and (b) civil servants work full-time on the Northern Powerhouse agenda.

Anna Soubry: Holding answer received on 21 April 2016



There are 2439 core full time equivalent civil servants working in BIS, including Sheffield and other locations. The Northern Powerhouse is a key ambition of this Government which requires input from officials across BIS and other Government Departments, across a wide range of policy areas. This supports places across the North to work collaboratively to direct and benefit from the Northern Powerhouse agenda.

Tata Steel

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, on which occasions he had communications with Tata Group plc in the last six months.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, on how many and which occasions he has had communications with Tata Group plc in the last six months.

Anna Soubry: Tata Group plc is a Strategic Relationship-Managed company and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is the Contact Minister. He has had regular meetings with the company, including during the Prime Minister of India’s visit to the UK in November 2015. BIS Ministers have held discussions and corresponded with Tata Group plc on a regular basis on issues of importance to the company’s investments in the UK. Most recently my right hon. Friend visited Mumbai on 6 April and again on 20 April to progress the sale of Tata Steel’s UK assets with Cyrus Mistry, Tata Group Chairman.

Living Wage: Southampton

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of the workforce in Southampton is in receipt of the national living wage.

Nick Boles: The Government published its Impact Assessment of the National Living Wage on 7 December 2015.2.9 million workers are expected to directly benefit from the National Living Wage by 2020, 8% of which are located in the South East of England. The Department has made no detailed assessment of the benefits of the National Living Wage at local authority level.

Parental Leave

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many people have taken shared parental leave to date; how many people have made a claim for shared parental pay since April 2015; and what proportion of such claimants were fathers and partners.

Nick Boles: The Government does not yet have any reliable information on the take up of Statutory Shared Parental Pay. We expect information for the 2015-16 tax year to be available from May 2016, although it will also include Additional Statutory Paternity Pay information up to December 2015. This will give an estimate for the total number of claims for Statutory Shared Parental Pay.The Government does not collect information on the number of employees who have taken Shared Parental Leave. We will evaluate the policy by 2018 and this will enable us to better estimate the actual take up for leave.

Apprentices

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what criteria his Department uses to judge the quality of apprenticeships.

Nick Boles: All apprenticeships must be paid jobs; have a minimum duration of 12 months; and offer sustained and substantial training to ensure apprentices gain significant new skills and competence in their occupation.Employers are designing new apprenticeship standards and assessment approaches that must meet a number of set criteria to ensure quality and consistency across all apprenticeships. These are set out in the “Future of apprenticeships in England: guidance for trailblazers - from standards to starts” https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/future-of-apprenticeships-in-england-guidance-for-trailblazersIn England from April 2017, the independent Institute for Apprenticeships will support the quality of apprenticeship standards in England. Ofsted and Ofqual will also continue to inspect, report on and regulate apprenticeships up to and including Level 3.We are also introducing legislation to protect the term `apprenticeship` from misuse by education and training providers. The aim is to assure employers, apprentices and training providers that action can be taken if poor quality training is mis-sold as an apprenticeship, and that they are investing in high quality apprenticeships.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: Staff

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many staff in the (a) Sheffield office at St Paul's Place and (b) London office at 1 Victoria Street work on the Northern Powerhouse agenda and associated work.

Anna Soubry: There are 2439 core full time equivalent civil servants working in BIS, including Sheffield and other locations. The Northern Powerhouse is a key ambition of this Government which requires input from officials across BIS and other Government Departments, across a wide range of policy areas. This supports places across the North to work collaboratively to direct and benefit from the Northern Powerhouse agenda.

Gratuities

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which bodies he met for his Department's investigation into tips, gratuities, covers and service charges; and on how many occasions and when such meetings with such bodies took place.

Nick Boles: My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills launched the Call for Evidence into tips, gratuities, cover and service charges on 30 August 2016. This closed on 10 November 2016. The Government received a total of 183 responses from a range of sources during the investigation. In addition to this, officials of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills have met with the British Hospitality Association, UnitetheUnion and the Association of Licenced Multiple Retailers during the call for evidence period. Departments publish details of Ministers’ meetings with external organisations. BIS transparency data is published online at www.gov.uk/government/collections/bis-quarterly-publications-april-to-june-2012.

Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership

Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answers of 25 February 2016 to Questions 27493 and 27494, and with reference to Article 29 of the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, what the evidential basis is for the Government's conclusion that the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership does not automatically apply to British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.

Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answers of 25 February 2016 to Questions 27493 and 27494, and with reference to Article 29 of the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, what the evidential basis is for the Government's conclusion that the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement does not automatically apply to British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.

Anna Soubry: The Government’s position, set out in the answers to Questions 27493 and 27494, is based on the wording of the treaties (Article 52 of the Treaty on European Union, Article 355 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the 1972 Treaty of Accession of Denmark, Ireland and the UK to the European Economic Community) and the longstanding practice of the UK. Article 29 of the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods is not relevant to the status of British Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. Article 29 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties provides that “Unless a different intention appears from the treaty or is otherwise established, a treaty is binding upon each party in respect of its entire territory.” The British Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies are not part of the UK, and the UK has consistently adopted the position that treaties made by the UK do not extend to British Overseas Territories or the Crown Dependencies, unless this is done expressly. The first expression of this position was set out in the “Bevin Despatch” (Foreign Office Circular 118, 16 October 1950).

International Assistance

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether his Department has produced an implementation plan for the Sustainable Development Goals.

Anna Soubry: The Government intends to produce a report in due course that will set out how the UK is contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals.

Motor Vehicles: Manufacturing Industries

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many vehicles were acquired under the 2009-10 vehicle scrappage scheme; and how many of those vehicles had not been disposed of on the latest date for which figures are available.

Anna Soubry: Under the 2009 Vehicle Scrappage Scheme (VSS) claims were made for 392227 vehicles. A breakdown of that figure by make and model is available on our website, gov.uk. In order for a claim to be made under the VSS, a Certificate of Destruction (CoD), issued by an Authorised Treatment Facility (ATF) for the old vehicle had to be provided by the car dealer to the manufacturer. Beyond the CoD, the arrangements covering disposal of the old vehicle, and any associated costs, sat outside the scheme. The physical treatment chain was not a condition of the Scheme and therefore the Department does not hold any information relating to this. The Environment Agency is the responsible authority for compliance with the permit requirements for Authorised Treatment Facilities (ATF).

Apprentices: Taxation

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if the Government will continue to pay for training to enable apprentices to achieve Level 2 or GCSEs in English and mathematics, as required, once the Apprenticeship Levy has been introduced.

Nick Boles: Apprentices have to meet a minimum standard in both English and maths up to Level 2. There are specific qualifications they must achieve. If an apprentice does not already have these, they may need to do an English or maths course. We will pay providers directly, for the Level 1 and 2 English and maths training they provide to apprentices. Further information on the amount that will be paid for English and maths training for apprentices who require it, will be published provisionally in June 2016 and confirmed in October 2016.

Helicopters

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what his policy is on safeguarding the future of the UK helicopter industry.

Anna Soubry: We are working with the UK aerospace industry to sustain and grow helicopter capability through the Aerospace Growth Partnership and the Defence Growth Partnership, both of which bring Government and industry together to tackle barriers to growth, boost exports and grow high value jobs.Through this work we are supporting the industry’s private investment in technology, competitiveness, productivity, manufacturing capability and skills. For example, we have supported Finmeccanica Helicopters’ investment in new civil helicopter capability at Yeovil, safeguarding employment through diversification into the growing civil aerospace market. In addition, we are co-investing with industry in collaborative R&D projects led by Finmeccanica Helicopters and Airbus Helicopters on new technologies including advanced rotor blades and lightweight structures.

Institute for Apprenticeships

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April 2016 to Question 33699, what the duties of the board members of the Institute for Apprenticeships will be prior to the launch of that Institute in April 2017.

Nick Boles: The Institute for Apprenticeship’s Board will be appointed via a public appointments process later this year. In shadow form, the Board will be expected to oversee the finalisation of the organisation's workplan and the transition to taking on the Institute’s statutory functions in April 2017. Further information about the roles and duties of the Board members will be provided when the public appointments process is complete.

Consumers: Billing

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect on consumers of businesses issuing seven-day legal procedure notices with invoices.

Nick Boles: In response to the Law Commissions’ report on Consumer Redress for Misleading and Aggressive Practices in March 2012, the Government introduced an amendment to the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 giving consumers new powers to pursue civil redress for misleading and aggressive practices. The regulations expressly cover demands for payment from a consumer in full or partial settlement of the consumer’s liabilities or purported liabilities to the trader (regulation 2(1A)). This means that misleading and aggressive practices in respect of such demands could lead to both criminal sanctions as well as private redress.

Apprentices

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on taking steps to tackle recent reductions in the number of employers posting apprenticeship vacancies.

Nick Boles: Latest data shows that whilst the number of employers advertising vacancies has fallen, the number of apprenticeship opportunities posted on the ‘Find an Apprenticeship’ website has increased each year from 71,060 in 2010/11 to 200,460 in 2014/15. The Apprenticeship Delivery Board and Apprenticeship Ambassadors Network work with employers to champion apprenticeships and increase the number of places on offer. The Skills Funding Agency also works closely with the National Employer Services Team in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to encourage employers to offer apprenticeships. We are launching a new apprenticeships communications campaign in May, jointly designed with DWP, which will promote the benefits of apprenticeships to young people, parents and employers. This will build on National Apprenticeship Week 2016, which saw more than 30,000 apprenticeship places pledged by businesses.We also work closely with DWP to ensure that information about apprenticeship vacancies is available to jobseekers through Universal Jobmatch.

Department for International Development

Department for International Development: Recruitment

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department's Graduate Development Scheme will take place in 2016; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Desmond Swayne: DFID will be running a Graduate Development Scheme for 2016. Recruitment is due to launch in May 2016.

Department for Education

Department for Education: Statistics

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people her Department employs as statisticians.

Nick Gibb: As of 31st March 2016, the Department employs 129 people as statisticians.

Department for Education: Statistics

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many staff in her Department hold qualifications at A-level or above in statistics.

Nick Gibb: The Department does not hold information requested. For staff joining the Department specifically as statisticians there are minimum requirements.For those joining at Fast Stream level, the requirements are:a minimum of a 2:1 degree in a numerate discipline such as mathematics, economics, psychology or geography; the degree should contain some formal statistical training;a graduate diploma of the Royal Statistical Society or an equivalent qualification. For those joining at EO grade, the requirements are:a minimum of a 2:2 degree in a numerate discipline such as mathematics, economics, psychology or geography; the degree should contain some formal statistical training;a graduate diploma of the Royal Statistical Society or equivalent qualification;We also welcome applications from candidates who do not have a degree but can demonstrate significant experience in a statistics related field, plus continuing professional development in a relevant area that leads to qualifications (for example the RSS Higher Certificate).

Primary Education: Assessments

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her policy is on assessment of children in their reception year.

Nick Gibb: On 7 April 2016 we announced that we will not be using the results of the reception baseline assessment carried out in 2015-16 as the starting point for measuring progress in the accountability system. When this year’s reception classes leave primary school in 2022, we will continue to use Key Stage 1 (KS1) as the starting point from which to measure pupils’ progress to Key Stage 2 (KS2). The link to the announcement can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/reception-baseline-comparability-study-published As announced in March 2014, the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile – an assessment at the end of Reception – will no longer be compulsory from September 2016. The Early Years Foundation Stage will continue to be statutory; supporting children to experience a broad and engaging programme of learning in reception. We know that assessment in reception is essential. Early years are critical to a child’s development and we want to ensure that teachers are able to identify where pupils may need additional support as early as possible. We remain committed to assessment in reception and that is why we are giving schools the option to use the baseline assessments as on-entry assessments in academic year 2016-17. The outcomes from these assessments will not be used for school accountability. We remain committed to the assessment of pupils through primary school. Over the coming months we will be looking at assessment arrangements in reception beyond 2016-17 and will engage stakeholders in that work.

GCSE

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that GCSE students are able to study expressive arts subjects alongside those subjects included in the English Baccalaurate; and whether studying such subjects will require taking more than the current average number of GCSEs taken in England.

Nick Gibb: The Government remains fully committed to ensuring pupils receive a well-rounded education. All state-funded schools must provide a broad and balanced curriculum that promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils. We expect that all pupils should have the opportunity to study a range of subjects at primary and secondary school, including creative subjects. The EBacc is intended to be studied as part of a broad and balanced curriculum at Key Stage 4. It has been designed to be limited in size to provide a rigorous academic core whilst leaving space in the curriculum for other subjects. On average, pupils in state-funded schools enter nine GCSEs and equivalent qualifications, rising to more than ten for more able pupils. This information is available in the school and college performance tables found at http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/performance/. For many pupils, taking the EBacc will equate to seven GCSEs; and for those taking triple science, it will equate to eight. This means that there will continue to be room to study other subjects, including expressive arts. The proportion of pupils in state-funded schools taking at least one GCSE in an arts subject has increased since the EBacc was first introduced, rising from 46% in 2011 to 50% in 2015.[1] [1] Statistical release: EBacc and non-EBacc subject entries and achievement: 2010/11 to 2014/15

Music: Primary Education

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of primary school pupils have access to music lessons with a specialist music teacher within their school.

Nick Gibb: The Department for Education does not collect data on the proportion of primary school pupils having access to music lessons with a specialist music teacher within their school curriculum. Schools are best placed to decide on the number and type of teachers they need. In 2016-17, we are investing £75 million in music education hubs to ensure all pupils aged 5-18 have access to high quality musical opportunities. Primary schools can access support from specialist music teachers through music education hubs. In 2013/14, Arts Council England data showed that 596,820 pupils learned to play an instrument through whole class ensemble teaching, up from 531,422 in 2012/13.

Teachers: Training

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department has taken to make autism awareness a compulsory part of initial teacher training.

Nick Gibb: The Government does not prescribe a curriculum for initial teacher training (ITT). Providers of ITT must ensure that their courses allow trainees to demonstrate the Teachers’ Standards in full; this includes ensuring that trainees are equipped to “adapt teaching to respond to the strengths and needs of all pupils”. The standards require trainees to demonstrate that they “have a clear understanding of the needs of all pupils, including those with special educational needs”. It is for individual providers to decide how best to ensure that their programmes meet the requirements of the standards. Following a review of ITT quality by Sir Andrew Carter, the Secretary of State appointed a leading head teacher, Stephen Munday CBE, to lead an independent expert group tasked with developing a framework of core initial teacher training content. This will provide further guidance for ITT providers and trainees on how the Teachers’ Standards should be applied to the initial training phase. We expect to receive the group’s report shortly and will consider their recommendations carefully and determine how they should be taken forward. The Teachers’ Standards can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/283566/Teachers_standard_information.pdf

Department for Education: Members

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many requests to meet with hon. Members she has received from each of the political parties represented in the House since her appointment.

Nick Gibb: Holding answer received on 26 April 2016



My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Education frequently meets Hon Members from across the political spectrum in the performance of her duties. Information in the form requested is not readily available and could be compiled only at disproportionate cost.

Department for Education: Members

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many hon. Members of each party she has met as a result of a request for such a meeting since her appointment.

Nick Gibb: Holding answer received on 26 April 2016



My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Education frequently meets Hon Members from across the political spectrum in the performance of her duties.Information in the form requested is not readily available and could be compiled only at disproportionate cost.

Special Educational Needs: Northamptonshire

Tom Pursglove: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding was allocated to schools for supporting children with learning difficulties in (a) Corby constituency and (b) East Northamptonshire in each of the last three years.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Funding for children and young people with special educational needs (SEN) is allocated to local authorities through the dedicated schools grant, which includes both funding to be delegated to mainstream schools, and funding for the additional costs associated with educating children and young people with high needs.Schools are funded through a formula set by their local authority, and local authorities are required to delegate funds to a level that enables schools to meet the additional cost of pupils with SEN up to £6,000 per annum. It is for individual schools to decide how they allocate their overall budget to ensure they meet the specific needs of children with learning difficulties.For those pupils whose additional support costs more than £6,000 the local authority pays top-up funding to the schools from their high needs budget. Top-up funding rates are for local authorities to agree with their schools.Northamptonshire County Council’s high needs allocation, within the dedicated schools grant, in each of the last three years was as follows:2013-14 – £64.37 million2014-15 – £65.74 million2015-16 – £66.32 million.We do not hold information on the total funding allocated by Northamptonshire County Council to schools in Corby and East Northamptonshire.

Academies

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with which local authorities her Department has held discussions on the possibility of local authorities running multi-academy trusts.

Edward Timpson: Regional Schools Commissioners discuss the options for schools to convert to academy status with local authorities on a regular basis – and in the case of underperforming schools in particular, those discussions focus on which multi-academy trusts are the most effective way of securing sustainable improvement.The White Paper Educational Excellence Everywhere makes clear that we want to ensure that we make best use of talented staff currently within local authorities to establish or join multi-academy trusts. Our discussions with local authorities will continue to look at the options available to harness that talent.

Free Schools

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many free schools were delayed in opening in each year since 2010.

Edward Timpson: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Education Funding Agency: Staff

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many full-time equivalent staff there were in the Education Funding Agency in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13, (d) 2013-14 and (e) 2014-15.

Nick Gibb: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Academies: Performance Standards

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of converter academies were rated as (a) good and (b) outstanding by Ofsted in each of the last five years.

Edward Timpson: This is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw. I have asked him to write to you and a copy of his reply will be placed in the libraries of the House.

Academies

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools became converter academies in each year between 2010 and 2015.

Edward Timpson: The numbers of currently open converter academies that opened in the years 2010 – 2015 can be found in the table below. This information is available on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/open-academies-and-academy-projects-in-development. The figures are correct as at 1 April 2016.  Year of opening201020112012201320142015Number of currently open converter academies941045818602492465

Primary Education: Burnley

Julie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children were not allocated a place at their preferred primary school place in Burnley in the academic year 2015-16.

Nick Gibb: Information on school place preferences being met is not available at constituency level. Data is collected at local authority level and the figures for Lancashire local authority (which includes the Burnley constituency) show that for the academic year 2015-16 a total of 448 applicants did not receive an offer of any of their top three preferences. Full details are provided in the table below. Lancashire local authority, primary school preferences, 2015/16  Number%Total number of applicants13,444   Applicants who received 1st preference11,88988.4 Applicants who did not receive 1st preference1,55511.6 Applicants who received a preferred offer12,99696.7 Did not receive a preferred offer4483.3  Lancashire’s figures were an improvement on their results for 2014/15, when 504 applicants did not receive an offer of any of their preferred schools, out of a total of 13,543 applications. This meant that 3.7% did not receive a preferred offer (compared to 3.3% in 2015/16), whilst 96.3% did receive an offer of one of their preferred schools.

Schools: Finance

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the operation of the fair funding formula for schools; and when she expects the latest revision to that formula to be implemented.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The first stage of a two-part consultation for national funding formulae for schools and high needs closed on 17 April. We are currently considering the responses. We will publish the second stage of the consultation later this year, alongside the government’s response to the first stage of the consultation. This second stage will set out the detailed design of the formulas, and will provide illustrative allocations for all schools and areas. We have proposed to introduce the new national funding formulae from 2017-18.

Ministry of Justice

Ministry of Justice: Resignations

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of officials of his Department resigned in each of the last six years.

Mike Penning: The table below sets out a) the number of and b) proportion of Ministry of Justice staff who have resigned over the past six years. Calendar YearTotal No. Of ResignationsProportion201021283%201119423%201217883%201317843%201422133%201525174% The information includes staff within Ministry of Justice Headquarters, National Offender Management Service, Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service, Office of the Public Guardian and Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority. Scotland Office and Wales Office staff are in scope for the years 2010-2011, UK Supreme Court staff are in scope for the years 2011-2012 and staff within the Legal Aid Agency are included from 2013.

Civil Proceedings

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with the (a) Law Society and (b) other representatives of the legal profession on the issuing of seven day notices of legal proceedings at the same time as invoices for payment to consumers.

Mr Shailesh Vara: Ministers at the Ministry of Justice have had no such discussions with the Law Society or other representatives of the legal profession on this issue.

Prisoners: Foreign Nationals

Mr Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many foreign national offenders in prison have been convicted of (a) drugs, (b) sexual violence and (c) fraud offences.

Andrew Selous: As of 31 December 2015 there were 9,895 Foreign National Offenders (FNOs) held in prisons and NOMS-operated Immigration Removal Centres, of which 6,612 were sentenced prisoners. Of these: 1,312 were sentenced for drug offences; 1,084 of these were sentenced for sexual offences; and, 258 of these were sentenced for fraud offences. This government has a longstanding policy to do everything possible to return foreign prisoners to their home country at the earliest opportunity. Since 2010, 29,000 FNOs have been removed from the UK, with the total FNO population in our prisons reducing from 10,866 in December 2010 to 9,895 in December 2015. Offender management statistics, including FNOs, can be found at this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/offender-management-statistics-quarterly-july-to-september-2015

European Convention on Human Rights

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his policy is on UK membership of the European Convention on Human Rights; and if he will make a statement.

Dominic Raab: As I told the House on 26th April, the Government’s position on the European Convention of Human Rights remains clear. We cannot rule out withdrawing forever, but our forthcoming proposals do not include it. We are confident that we can replace the Human Rights Act with a Bill of Rights and reform our relationship with the Strasbourg Court.

European Convention on Human Rights

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he last discussed the European Convention on Human Rights with the Secretary of State for the Home Department.

Dominic Raab: This Government was elected with a mandate to reform and modernise the UK human rights framework. We engage with all relevant government departments on a regular basis at Ministerial and official level. Reform of the UK’s human rights framework involves careful consideration within government and our proposals will be published in due course.

Prime Minister

Members: Correspondence

Anna Turley: To ask the Prime Minister, when he plans to respond to the letter of 9 March 2016 from the hon. Member for Redcar relating to a donation given to the Minister for the Cabinet Office.

Mr David Cameron: A reply has been sent.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Newspaper Press: Regulation

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will place in the Library copies of all correspondence between Ministers in his Department and newspaper editors, executives and proprietors about press regulation policy and Leveson Part 2 since May 2015.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The department does not publish as standard confidential correspondence between individuals or organisations and ministers. A list of ministerial meetings is published in the department's quarterly returns.

Broadband: Cheltenham

Alex Chalk: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when his Department expects that all of Cheltenham will have access to superfast broadband of over 24 megabits per second.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Superfast broadband of at least 24 Mbps is available to 90 per cent of homes and businesses in the UK – up from 45 per cent in 2010. We currently estimate that 94% of homes and businesses in the Cheltenham constituency will have access to superfast broadband by December 2017. Government is also working with major broadband suppliers to encourage them to further extend commercial coverage, particularly in urban areas.

Department for Work and Pensions

Employment and Support Allowance

Dr Eilidh Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance his Department provides to health care professionals on applying the power in regulation 35 of the Employment Allowance Regulations 2008 to award employment and support allowance to claimants in the support group in exceptional circumstances.

Priti Patel: Healthcare professionals who carry out the Work Capability Assessment are trained in all aspects of their role including the application of Regulation 35. They are also issued with written guidance on all aspects of the Work Capability Assessment including the application of Regulation 35.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answers of 8 March 2016 to Questions 30341 and 30342 and with reference to the Answers of 5 December 2013 to Question 179450 and 21 January 2014 to Question 182897, when his Department (a) decided to stop collecting the required information and (b) began to collect information in such a way that it can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Justin Tomlinson: The information requested can only be provided at a disproportionate cost. For questions 179450 and 182897 volumes of prosecutions and number of errors identified were provided, however these were not all fraud cases, including cases where the error was not deliberate. This did not explicitly answer the enquiry, however was given to provide helpful context. It is not possible to separate cases into those which are a mistake and those where fraud has been accepted without individual case by case analysis. Again, we cannot directly answer 30341 and 30342 but have provided the below extra information to assist; 2013-142014-152015-16Total Fraud Investigations (1)125,140116,480171,730of which total positive outcomes (2)20,80020,05024,600of which total fraud cases (3)15,35012,87013,600over which total prosecuted (4)11,3908,4907,150 (1) Total cases investigated by Local Service or complex criminal Investigations. (2) Total cases where an error has been identified and corrected. (3) Prosecutions + admin Penalties + cautions: cases where fraud has been proven or accepted.(4) Cases accepted by CPS for prosecution.

Employment and Support Allowance

Dr Eilidh Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants have been awarded employment and support allowance (ESA) under regulation (a) 29 and (b) 35 of the Employment and Support Allowance Regulations 2008; and how many such claimants were originally in the ESA support group.

Priti Patel: Information on the outcomes of initial Employment and Support Allowance claims awarded under regulation 35 of the ESA Regulations 2008 can be found in Table 5 of the published statistics:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/esa-outcomes-of-work-capability-assessments-claims-made-to-jun-2015-and-appeals-to-dec-2015. The rest of the information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Food Poverty

Jo Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will adopt recommendations 58 to 63 of the All Party Parliamentary Inquiry Report, Feeding Britain.

Priti Patel: As part of the ongoing development of the sanctions policy, we have already implemented many of the recommendations from the All Party Parliamentary Inquiry Report ‘Feeding Britain’ and Matthew Oakley’s independent review of sanctions, since they were published in 2014 and some are still being considered.Where we identify an issue, we act to put it right. As with all our policies, we keep the operation of the sanction system under constant review to ensure that it continues to function effectively and fairly.

Social Security Benefits: Autism

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants of (a) employment and support allowance, (b) disability living allowance and (c) personal independence payments have been diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder.

Priti Patel: Statistics for the relevant main disabling conditions recorded for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) claimants, are given in the tables below:Table 1 – Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) recipients with main disabling condition of Pervasive Development Disorders (PDD), Great Britain: August 2015 ESAAll conditions2,355,160Pervasive Development Disorders9,920 Source: DWP 100% dataTable 2 – Disability Living Allowance (DLA) (cases in payment) by specified main disabling conditions of Asperger’s Syndrome, Autism and Other learning difficulties, Great Britain: August 2015 DLAAll conditions3,020,610Asperger's Syndrome38,320Autism118,080Other Learning Difficulties (inc. Asperger's Syndrome and Autism)142,910 Source: DWP 100% data Such information as is available on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) awards for those whose main disabling condition is listed as Autistic Spectrum Disorder is published on Gov.UK: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here: https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html.

Universal Credit

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his Department's timetable is for transferring employment and support allowance claimants to universal credit.

Justin Tomlinson: Testing of the migration of legacy claimants onto Universal Credit will take place during 2017. Following this national migration will commence in 2018 and by 2020/21 the move to Universal Credit will be complete.

Universal Credit

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether support group claimants will be required to sign a claimant commitment when they are transferred to universal credit.

Priti Patel: All claimants are required to accept a claimant commitment as a condition of entitlement for receiving universal credit. Claimants who are not subject to work-related requirements will do this through the online claims process. However, we have the ability to lift this requirement where it is appropriate to do so, either temporarily or in the longer-term, including for those claimants in the support group of Employment and Support Allowance.

Universal Credit

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether claimants in the support group are required to make new claims when they are transferred to universal credit.

Priti Patel: We are still developing the processes which will support the managed migration of existing claimants to Universal Credit. Claimants will be contacted in good time to inform them of the steps they will need take to be moved to Universal Credit. Claimants who are in receipt of the Support Component in ESA at the point they are transferred to Universal Credit will have the Limited Capability for Work and Work-related activity element in UC applied to their UC award from the start of their first assessment period.

Personal Independence Payment

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many personal independence payment claimants have had their claim re-assessed more than six months before the end of their initial award period in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Justin Tomlinson: The Department does hold the requested information and it could only be provided at a disproportionate cost. For all PIP claimants with a fixed term award, except where the claimant would be expected to have little or no functional limitation within a two year period, a review date is set when the award is made. This review date is based on advice from a health professional and is communicated to the claimant when the award is made. A review process is then initiated on this date. In all such cases the review process is initiated a year in advance of the award end date.

Department for Work and Pensions: Recruitment

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many new staff have been appointed to his Department since 21 March 2016.

Justin Tomlinson: A total of 337 new employees were appointed to the Department for Work and Pensions during the period 21 March 2016 to 25 April 2016.

State Retirement Pensions: British Nationals Abroad

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the number of recipients of the state pension living overseas in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

Justin Tomlinson: Estimates of the number of recipients of the State Pension living overseas in each of the last 10 years are published on the DWP Tabulation Tool. The numbers from November 2012 can be seen in the column ‘Claimants living abroad’, and prior to this in the column ‘Unknown’ of this table:http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/100pc/sp/ccdate/ccgor/a_carate_r_ccdate_c_ccgor.html

Universal Credit

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to paragraph 10 of the explanatory memorandum to the Universal Credit (Work Allowance) Amendment Regulations 2015, if he will publish the calculations used to estimate savings arising from the introduction of those regulations.

Priti Patel: The savings were estimated using DWP's and HMRC's models of the tax and benefit system. Extracting the full details of the calculations carried out within the models would only be possible at disproportionate cost.

Members: Correspondence

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for  Pontypridd of 15 April 2016 on assessments for personal independence payments.

Justin Tomlinson: I replied to the hon. Member on 21 April 2016.

Social Security Benefits: Disability

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 22 March 2016 to Question 30765, when his Department plans to publish its White Paper on improving support for disabled people.

Justin Tomlinson: Improving support for disabled people and people with health conditions to get into and stay in work is a key priority for Government. The Secretary of State has outlined that he is starting a new conversation with disabled people and people with health conditions, their representatives, healthcare professionals and employers. He is listening to all of their ideas and this will help inform our plans. These will be set out in due course.

Pension Protection Fund

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons the Government has not yet implemented its policy to increase the Pension Protection Fund compensation cap for service over 20 years; and when he plans to implement that policy.

Justin Tomlinson: I refer the hon.Member to the answer I gave on 1 February 2016 to 24981

Pensions Act 2014

James Cartlidge: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2016 to Question 23225, what progress his Department has made on bringing forward changes to secondary legislation that are necessary to implement the relevant provisions of the Pensions Act 2014.

Justin Tomlinson: Work on the changes needed to secondary legislation in relation to the Pension Protection Fund long service cap has begun. I am not, at this stage, able to say when these changes will be brought forward.

Carer's Allowance: Strokes

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are in receipt of carer's allowance where the person cared for is a stroke survivor.

Justin Tomlinson: The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Universal Credit

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 21 April 2016 to Question 34466, for what reason a save function is only available as part of the universal credit full service.

Priti Patel: The ‘save and return’ functionality is available in the Universal Credit Full Service because the Full Service has all the security features necessary to safeguard the claimant’s data, by confirming the identity of the returning user.

Fit for Work Programme

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 20 April 2016 to Question 33647, whether he plans to continue the Fit for Work programme for the full length of the contract.

Justin Tomlinson: In England and Wales, the Fit fir Work contract was awarded on the 25th July 2014 for a period of 5 years. DWP continues to undertake contract management with the supplier. In Scotland, the service is delivered via an agency agreement with the Scottish Government, made in November 2015 and reviewed annually.

Ministry of Defence

Warships: Procurement

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans his Department has to procure ships under the Military Afloat Reach Sustainability programme; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Military Afloat Reach and Sustainability (MARS) programme covers the four Tide Class Tankers which were ordered in 2012 and are currently under construction, and the Fleet Solid Support (FSS) ships. As stated in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, we plan to procure three Fleet Solid Support logistic ships

Mediterranean Sea: Refugees

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the country of origin was of people attempting to cross the Mediterranean from North Africa who were intercepted by (a) NATO (b) EU and (c) UK maritime operations in each of the last two years.

Penny Mordaunt: NATO is not conducting any operations in the South Central Mediterranean and has therefore not rescued any people attempting to cross the Mediterranean from North Africa. The main countries of origin of people attempting to cross the Mediterranean from North Africa and rescued by EU and UK maritime operations are the following: AlgeriaCameroonEritreaEthiopiaGhanaGambiaGuineaIvory CoastMaliMoroccoNigeriaSenegalSomaliaSudan The only UK maritime operation over the last two years in the Central Mediterranean was conducted in May and June 2015, where HMS BULWARK rescued 4,747 persons from the following nationalities: BeninBurkina FasoCameroonChadEthiopiaEretriaThe GambiaGhanaGuineaIvory CoastKenyaLibyaMaliMoroccoNigeriaPakistanSenegalSudan We do not centrally hold information on the nationalities of persons rescued by NATO or EU operations in the Central Mediterranean. The FRONTEX website does have information about numbers and nationalities of migrants attempting to cross the Central Mediterranean from North Africa.

Russia: NATO

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether a Government representative attended the meeting of the NATO-Russia Council held in April 2016; and what the conclusions of that meeting were.

Mr Julian Brazier: The UK Deputy Permanent Representative to NATO attended the NATO-Russia Council on 20 April 2016. Allies stood firm and united in denouncing Russia's illegal actions in Ukraine. In annexing Ukraine's land, violating its territorial integrity, and destabilising east Ukraine, Russia has contravened international law and challenged the rules based international order.The meeting also discussed military transparency and risk reduction, and the security situation in Afghanistan. Political channels of communication will remain open, but NATO is clear that there will be no return to 'business as usual' until Russia respects international law.

Frigates: Procurement

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the current timetable is for the procurement of manufacturing of Type 26 frigates; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Dunfermline and West Fife (Douglas Chapman) to Question 32497 on 11 April 2016.



32497 - QnA extract on Type 26 Frigates
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Frigates: Procurement

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the timetable is for the procurement of general purpose frigates; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne: We have begun the initial work to take forward the new General Purpose Frigate programme outlined in the White Paper 'National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015'. The work is in the very early stages and it is too soon to say what the procurement timetable will be.

Warships: Shipbuilding

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the terms of reference are for the National Shipbuilding Strategy; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne: The National Shipbuilding Strategy is intended to place UK shipbuilding on a sustainable long-term footing. It will look at how to build a new complex warship on a regular schedule and maximise export opportunities in order to deliver capable ships and value for money, as well as maintaining jobs and skills. It will ensure that the Royal Navy continues to have the capability it needs to protect our nation's interests, retaining its status as the most modern Navy in the world. Sir John Parker has been appointed as the Independent Chair of the Strategy. He will bring strong strategic direction and guidance to the work, and report to Ministers. He will lead the high level engagement with key stakeholders.

Home Office

Visas

Ruth Smeeth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 11 April 2016 to Question 32350, how many compliance visits per employer that have taken place on Tier 2 ICT visa workers in the last 12 months.

James Brokenshire: In 2015 227 compliance visits were undertaken to Tier 2 sponsors who have the ability to sponsor individuals under the Tier 2 ICT route.

Travel Restrictions

Ruth Smeeth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on whether any failure of IT systems on UK-based airlines has allowed any individual on her Department's no fly list to travel in the last 12 months.

Ruth Smeeth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on whether any failure of IT systems on UK-based airlines led to passenger flight lists not being cross-referenced with her Department's (a) no fly list and (b) other relevant information in the last 12 months.

Ruth Smeeth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what procedures her Department has to ensure that aviation watch lists are cross-referenced with passenger manifests; and what steps her Department takes in instances of failure of such procedures.

James Brokenshire: The Government works closely with all carriers, not just British registered carriers, to connect their systems to the Government’s border systems to ensure those connections are operating properly and to ensure that any IT problems are identified and resolved. Should any circumstance arise where a carrier should have refused authority to carry an individual to the UK, that individual will be met on arrival. Border Force also conducts 100% checks at passport control on all passengers arriving in the UK by commercial air, rail or maritime services at passport controls. This includes screening against watch lists.

Asylum

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many decisions on international protection her Department made with further submissions lodged under rule 353 of the Immigration Rules in respect of (a) grants on protection grounds, (b) grants on non-protection grounds, (c) decisions to treat as fresh claim and then refuse, (d) further submissions refused, (e) further submissions rejected as not in correct format or (f) further submissions withdrawn before any decision made in (i) 2013-14, (ii) 2014-15 and (iii) 2015-16.

James Brokenshire: Our records indicate that 27,254 further submissions decisions were made under rule 353 of the Immigration Rules from 2013 to 2015. A breakdown of decision outcomes by year has been provided in a separate attached summary document.The data used in response to this question relates to all further submissions decisions, as data held does not identify whether the further submission decision was on international protection or other grounds.In relation to category (e), decisions to reject further submissions as not in correct format, Home Office policy on further submissions requires that further submissions should be submitted in person unless certain exceptions apply. Data is not available for the number of submissions that are not accepted because they have not been submitted via the appropriate process. 



Attachment 1
(Word Document, 83 KB)

Refugees: Yazidis

Mrs Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2016 to Question 29547, what assessment she has made of the efficacy of steps taken to reach vulnerable Yazidis now located in Turkish camps to enable them to be resettled in the UK under the Syrian Vulnerable Person Resettlement Programme; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Harrington: Holding answer received on 25 April 2016



UNHCR identifies Syrian refugees for resettlement using their established vulnerability criteria. Membership of a minority religion is not in itself one of the vulnerability criteria but members of minority religious groups, such as Syrian Yazidis, may qualify under one of the criteria.The seven vulnerability criteria used by the UNHCR are Legal and or Physical Protection Needs; Survivors of Torture and/or Violence; Medical Needs; Women and Girls at Risk; Family Reunification; Children and Adolescents at Risk and Lack of Foreseeable Alternative Durable Solutions.We are providing support to UNHCR to strengthen their resettlement work with Syrian refugees and specifically to intensify their outreach to groups that might be reluctant to register for fear of stigma/discrimination, or who might be unaware of the safe space that UNHCR can provide and the options available to them. This includes all religious minorities, people with disabilities, and survivors of torture and sexual violence.On 21 April my Rt Hon. Friend James Brokenshire laid a Written Ministerial Statement launching a new resettlement scheme for ‘Children at Risk’ from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The scheme will not target unaccompanied children alone, but will be extended to all ‘Children at Risk’ as defined by the UNHCR. Through this category we will resettle the most vulnerable children accompanied by their families where the UNHCR deems resettlement is in the best interests of the child.

Social Services

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what role her Department had in the selection of appointed local authority heads of social services departments from 1985 to 2015.

Karen Bradley: Holding answer received on 25 April 2016



The Home Secretary has not had any involvement in appointing local authority heads of social services departments.

Deportation: India

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost to the public purse has been of removing to India by sea those people who have been refused leave to remain in each of the last five years.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were removed from the UK by surface transport on grounds that they were not entitled to leave to remain but who were unable to fly on medical grounds in each of the last five years; and how many such people were removed to India.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 27 April 2016



The mode of transport for persons for persons subject to enforced removal from the UK is not published within official national migration statistics. To establish this figure over a 5 year period would require a manual examination of records within the Home Office Case Information Database (CID) which could only be done at disproportionate cost.

Deportation

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what protocols her Department has on removing from the UK people who have been refused leave to remain and who require (a) 16 hours and (b) 24 hours of oxygen per day for medical reasons.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 27 April 2016



There are no protocols in place for enforced removals in such circumstances. Any such case would be assessed by our medical escorting contractor on the basis of the individual’s need.

Drugs: Misuse

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she expects her Department's updated drugs strategy to be published.

Karen Bradley: We are currently developing a new Drug Strategy, working across Government and with key partners. We will continue to build on the 2010 Drug Strategy to take a balanced approach to drugs (reducing demand, restricting supply and building recovery) and tackle drugs as a key driver of crime.

Offences against Children

Mr Graham Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 25 April 2016 to Question 34224, when the next meeting of the Inter Ministerial Group on Child Sexual Abuse will be; and when procurement for the Centre of Expertise on Sexual Abuse is expected to (a) start and (b) conclude.

Karen Bradley: The Inter Ministerial Group on Child Sexual Abuse, chaired by the Home Secretary, meets every two months. The next meeting is due to take place on 17 May. We are working to commence the procurement of the centre of expertise on child sexual abuse as soon as possible. We expect the centre to be launched later this year.

Immigration: EEA Nationals

William Wragg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many EEA nationals have moved to the UK since 1 February 2004 and (a) are now eligible for and (b) have been granted permanent  residency status by virtue of being resident for at least five years.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Immigration: EU Nationals

William Wragg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she last had discussions with (a) her EU counterparts and (b) the European Commission on new measures to restrict migration from EU nationals into the UK.

James Brokenshire: The Secretary of State for the Home Department regularly meets her European counterparts and representatives of the European Commission to discuss a wide range of issues.

Crime: Morecambe and Lunesdale

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the crime rate in Morecambe and Lunesdale in (a) 2015-16 and (b) 2014-15; and if she will make a statement.

Mike Penning: The Crime Survey statistics published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that crime in England and Wales fell by 7% in the year to the end of December 2015 (the latest period for which data is available), and by 7% in the year to the end of December 2014. Over the same period, the number of crimes recorded by the police rose (including in the Lancaster Community Safety Partnership area, which covers Morecombe and Lunesdale). ONS have been clear that rises in police recorded crime are largely the result of more victims coming forward to report certain offences and improvements in police crime recording practices.

Right of Abode: Veterans

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 29 February 2016 to Questions 28144 and 28086, if her Department will take into account, when making a decision on granting right to abode, the fact that the British-Hong Kong servicemen paid UK taxes to HM Treasury during their service, rather than local Hong Kong taxes.

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 29 February 2016 to Questions 28144 and 28086, if her Department will take into account, when making a decision on granting right to abode, the fact that fewer full British passports were allocated to members of the Hong Kong Military Service Corps than the 500 limit set at the time.

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 29 February 2016 to Questions 28144 and 28086, if her Department will take into account, when making a decision on granting right to abode, the Government's obligations for life under the Armed Forces Covenant to support veterans and their families.

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 29 February 2016 to Questions 28144 and 28086, if her Department will take into account, when making a decision on granting right to abode, the fact that the British-Hong Kong servicemen swore an oath of allegiance to the Monarchy.

James Brokenshire: The assessment of the request by former members of the Hong Kong Military Service Corps that they be granted right of abode in the UK is under consideration. This will take into account all available information.

Emergency Services: Mental Health Services

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 26 April 2016 to Question 34987 and the Answer of 25 April 2016 to Question 34792, how much of the £10 million LIBOR fines funding has been allocated to mental health in total; and whether that allocation was made in October 2014 or October 2015.

Mike Penning: The LIBOR funding allocated to support emergency services staff and volunteers was allocated to a variety of charities covering all the emergency services. £4million was allocated to the charity Mind specifically for mental health issues to cover financial years 2014/15 and 2015/16. There were a number of other charities supported who will provide care for a variety of mental and physical symptoms however information is not held centrally on how they allocate their resources.

HM Treasury

EU Budget: Contributions

Mr Nigel Dodds: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment his Department has made of the value for money of the UK's financial contribution to the EU.

Mr David Gauke: HM Treasury’s analysis into the long-term economic impact of EU membership and the alternatives clearly shows that because of the benefits to the economy, membership of the EU is a good deal for the British taxpayer. These benefits include access to the EU Single Market, including the ability of the EU to negotiate access to global markets. For every £1 paid in tax a little over 1p goes to the EU. As the Chancellor has said, the impact on tax receipts of leaving the EU would be significant; to offset the economic loss, this could mean an increase in taxes equivalent to an additional 8p on the basic rate of income tax. The UK’s financial contribution therefore offers value for money. Further explanation of these figures and the impact of leaving the EU on public finances can be found in HM Treasury’s analysis into the economic impact of EU membership, available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/517415/treasury_analysis_economic_impact_of_eu_membership_web.pdf

EU Grants and Loans

Jack Lopresti: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on the UK public finances of fluctuations in the Pound Sterling-Euro exchange rate causing a decrease in funding received by the UK from EU funding schemes; and what contingencies he has arranged for such circumstances.

Mr David Gauke: HM Treasury receives no funds from the EU budget. A portion of the overall EU funding received by the UK is paid through government bodies. Managing the impact of exchange rate fluctuations is part of the normal responsibilities of the relevant managing authorities, following standard practice laid out by HM Treasury in Managing Public Money. Further detail on managing risk relating to foreign exchange is available on page 173 of that document, available online: www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/454191/Managing_Public_Money_AA_v2_-jan15.pdf.”

Stamp Duty Land Tax: EU Law

Sir David Amess: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that changes to Stamp Duty Land Tax do not contravene EU legislation on discrimination in respect of trading activities.

Mr David Gauke: All changes to Stamp Duty Land Tax legislation are checked to ensure compatibility with European Union law.

Apprentices: Taxation

Gordon Marsden: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he expects to agree a budget settlement for the apprenticeship levy for the devolved nations of the UK.

Greg Hands: We have committed to ensuring that the Devolved Administrations each receive a fair share of the levy. Discussions with the Devolved Administrations are ongoing and good progress is being made.

Apprentices: Taxation

Gordon Marsden: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to maintain the apprenticeship levy rate of 0.5 per cent on employers' pay bills over £3 million until 2020.

Greg Hands: The government has confirmed that the apprenticeship levy will be set at a rate of 0.5% of company paybill and every employer will have a £15,000 allowance to offset against their levy liability. In practice, this means only employers with paybills greater than £3million will pay the levy.

Climate Change Levy

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many stakeholders responded to his Department's informal consultation on the transitional arrangements for the removal of the Climate Change Levy exemption for renewably sourced electricity.

Damian Hinds: At Autumn Statement 2015 it was announced that a transitional period for electricity suppliers to apply the Climate Change Levy exemption on renewably-sourced electricity generated before 1 August 2015 would end on 31 March 2018. This followed an informal consultation by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) which received 18 written responses. In addition to these responses, HMRC held a number of meetings with organisations affected by the change.

Climate Change Levy

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish a summary of responses to his Department's informal consultation on the transitional arrangements for the removal of the Climate Change Levy exemption for renewably sourced electricity.

Damian Hinds: At Autumn Statement 2015 it was announced that a transitional period for electricity suppliers to apply the Climate Change Levy exemption on renewably-sourced electricity generated before 1 August 2015 would end on 31 March 2018. This followed an informal consultation by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). HMRC informed all respondents of the outcome in letters sent on 26 November 2015. As this was an informal consultation, and some of the responses contain commercially sensitive information, a summary of responses will not be published.

Income Tax: Taxis

Sir Oliver Heald: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the amount of income tax paid annually by London taxi drivers, in each of the last three years.

Mr David Gauke: No estimate has been made of the income tax receipts arising from licensed Hackney Carriage drivers. The information is not available and could only be produced at disproportionate cost.

Corporation Tax: Taxis

Sir Oliver Heald: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the annual amount of corporation tax paid by minicab businesses, in each of the last three years.

Mr David Gauke: The information requested is set out at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/456459/Corporation_Tax_Statistics_August_2015.pdf

EU Budget and EU Grants and Loans

Jack Lopresti: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the UK's (a) payments to the EU, (b) receipts through EU schemes and (c) receipts through the UK rebate in each year between 2020 and 2030.

Mr David Gauke: HM Treasury’s approach to estimating the net cost of the EU budget to the UK over the long term is set out in Annex B of HM Treasury Analysis: the long-term economic impact of EU membership and the alternatives, publicly available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/517415/treasury_analysis_economic_impact_of_eu_membership_web.pdf

Treasury: Staff

Jack Lopresti: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many officials work in his Department's Referendum Unit; and what the estimated cost of that unit is.

Mr David Gauke: The Treasury does not have a Referendum Unit. The Treasury is appropriately resourced to support the Government’s priorities in Europe.

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Sustainable Development

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether her Department has produced an implementation plan for the Sustainable Development Goals.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government intends to produce a report in due course that will set out how the UK is contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals.

Coal Fired Power Stations: Closures

David T. C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps she is taking to ensure that the closure of coal-powered stations does not lead to electricity shortages.

Andrea Leadsom: We knew some old coal powered stations would likely be closing and we have already taken steps to ensure security of supply for the coming winters. National Grid has procured 3.6GW of reserve capacity for this coming winter. Looking further ahead, the Capacity Market is designed to drive new investment to help keep the lights on, as well as getting the best out of our existing power stations and we have recently consulted on proposals to introduce the Capacity Market a year early, from 2017/18. A response to the consultation will be published shortly

Cabinet Office

Civil Service Board

Louise Haigh: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what changes in personnel there have been on the Civil Service Board since May 2010.

Matthew Hancock: The composition of the most senior collective leadership body (now Civil Service Board) has changed markedly since 2010 and its membership is reviewed on an ongoing basis. The Board has existed in its current guise, under the Chairmanship of the Cabinet Secretary, since September 2014. During the past year six new Board members have been appointed, replacing those who have left the Civil Service. The current membership can be found here (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/civil-service/about/our-governance).

Voluntary Work: Young People

Mr Philip Hollobone: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many young people from Kettering constituency have participated in the National Citizen Service in each of the last three years.

Mr Rob Wilson: I am very pleased to report that around 2,500 young people in Kettering have participated in NCS over the past three years. The NCS Trust does not collect data at a constituency level. Therefore, the figures below are for the local authority area of Northamptonshire:2013 – 542 participants2014 – 1,032 participants2015 – 1,103 participants

Freedom of Information Act 2000: Prosecutions

Louise Haigh: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many prosecutions have been brought under Section 70 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in each year since the coming into force of that Act.

Matthew Hancock: Section 70 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 does not contain an offence. It amends the Data Protection Act 1998 to exempt data falling within section 1(1)(e) of that Act from some of its provisions, including the offence under section 55 of that Act.

Anti-corruption Summit

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish a list of representatives he has invited to the Anti-Corruption Summit to be held in May 2016.

Matthew Hancock: The London Anti-Corruption Summit will bring together governments, international organisations, businesses and civil society to confront the problem of corruption. Information about the summit can be found on the summit web pages of the GOV.UK website. Further details will be announced in due course.

Freedom of Information Act 2000: Prosecutions

Louise Haigh: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many prosecutions were brought under Section 77 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in each year since the coming into force of that Act.

Matthew Hancock: No prosecutions have been brought under section 77 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Immigration

William Wragg: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent estimate he has made of the level of (a) EU and (b) non-EU migration into the UK in each of the last 10 years.

William Wragg: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many EEA nationals living in the UK have resided in the UK for (a) less than three months, (b) three to six months, (c) six to 12 months, (d) one to two years, (e) two to three years, (f) three to four years, (g) four to five years and (h) longer than five years.

William Wragg: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people from other EEA member states settled in (a) the UK, (b) England, (c) Scotland, (d) Wales and (e) Northern Ireland (i) before and (ii) since 1 January 2004.

William Wragg: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of immigrants from other EU and EEA member states who will (a) enter and (b) settle in the UK in each of the next five years.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Letter to Member - EEA Nationals in UK
(PDF Document, 65.19 KB)

Sexual Offences: Lancashire

Julie Cooper: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many sexual offences were recorded by police in (a) Lancashire and (b) Burnley in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2012, (iv) 2013, (v) 2014 and (vi) 2015.

Julie Cooper: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many cases of child abuse and neglect were reported in (a) Lancashire and (b) Burnley in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2012, (iv) 2013, (v) 2014 and (vi) 2015.

Julie Cooper: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many homicides were recorded by police in (a) Lancashire and (b) Burnley in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2012, (iv) 2013, (v) 2014 and (vi) 2015.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Letter to Member - Sexual Offences
(PDF Document, 239.71 KB)

Counter-terrorism: Conferences

Paul Flynn: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what involvement ministers or officials of his Department had in the Security and Counter Terror Conference at Olympia in London on 19 and 20 April 2016; and how the Civil Contingencies Secretariat of his Department undertakes outreach activities.

Mr Oliver Letwin: A number of Cabinet Office officials spoke at events associated with the Security and Counter Terror Expo held on 19 and 20 April 2016. They did so to set out government policy on topics of relevance to those attending.The Civil Contingencies Secretariat participates in a wide range of events involving the resilience community. This participation is an essential part of its role in engaging with partners and stakeholders to understand the issues faced in making the UK more resilient and in explaining Government policy.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Business: Climate Change

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 13 April 2016 to Question 32962, how her Department calculated that the Climate Ready Support Service enabled hundreds of organisations to understand their climate risk and take action; and what the exact number of such organisations was.

Rory Stewart: The Environment Agency does not have exact figures for the number of organisations accessing the Climate Ready Support Service because the service worked extensively through partners and intermediaries, as well as directly with organisations. The number given in my previous answer was calculated using statistics that the Environment Agency does have available, for example: Download statistics show that over 8000 businesses have used the Climate Ready Business Resilience Health Check tool online. The service, in partnership with Climate UK, provided training and qualifications in business resilience, including preparing for severe weather and climate change, to over 300 business advisors and small businesses (SMEs).

Business: Climate Change

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will take steps to promote access to the Climate Ready Support Service's online tools and to encourage businesses to plan for climate change.

Rory Stewart: The extensive range of tools that the CRSS produced with stakeholders over the past four years will continue to be available to help businesses adapt. They are currently available across a range of websites, due to the partnership nature of the service’s work. The majority can be found at http://climateuk.net/ and http://www.iema.net/. If any transitional or new hosting arrangements were to be necessary they will be clearly signposted.The Environment Agency will continue to play an important role in helping businesses adapt to climate change, especially as part of its core role on flooding, coastal risks, water management, freshwater habitats, and as a statutory adviser in the land-use planning system.

Business: Climate Change

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what funding (a) her Department and (b) the Environment Agency provided for the Climate Ready Support Service in 2015-16; and what assessment her Department has made of the performance of that Service in (a) 2014-15 and (b) 2015-16.

Rory Stewart: Funding provided for the Climate Ready Support Service in 2015-16 was around £1 million. The Climate Ready Support Service Programme Board had regular overview of the performance of the Service. The majority of National Adaptation Programme actions to which the Service was contributing have now been completed.

Department of Health

Drugs: Side Effects

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Royal College of Nursing on connections between hayfever, sleeping and allergy tablets and memory, cognitive and concentration difficulties.

Jane Ellison: No such discussions have taken place.

Junior Doctors: Working Hours

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department has received from NHS employers on the number of junior doctors who have worked weekends in the last six months.

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the number of junior doctors who work at weekends; and if his Department will provide data on the number of (a) weekends and (b) part weekends worked in each month by junior doctors.

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of the new junior doctors' contract on elective weekend care.

Ben Gummer: The Department does not routinely collect this information. However NHS Employers conducted a survey of employers in January 2016, which asked what percentage of junior doctors worked 1 in 4 weekends or more frequently. The data returned reflected a snapshot (rather than the last six months). Based on a response from 14 employers in England, 40% worked more frequently than 1 in 4 Saturdays. Our manifesto commitment, which was translated into the mandate that shaped the contract negotiation, was for the National Health Service to standardise urgent and emergency care, it is not about elective care. It is true that some hospitals do elective work at weekends. That is part of the trust’s local decision-making and it is right for the hospital to make that decision.

Health Services

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how his Department measures and demonstrates parity of esteem between mental and physical health in the NHS.

Alistair Burt: The Government accepted the Mental Health Taskforce recommendation to identify the gaps in provision between mental health and physical health and has increased funding for mental health to an estimated £11.7 billion last year and have introduced waiting time standards so people know they will be treated quickly.This Government continues to hold NHS England to account through the NHS Mandate for the achievement of measurable progress towards the parity of esteem for mental health and clinical commissioning groups are required through the annual planning guidance to increase spending each year on mental health at least in line with the increase in their overall allocation.In line with practice in physical health, from 1 April 2015, waiting times standards for mental health came into effect for:- treatment within two weeks for more than 50% of people experiencing a first episode of psychosis; and- treatment within six weeks for 75% of people referred to the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme, with 95% of people being treated within 18 weeks.The National Health Service has already achieved waiting time standards for IAPT and we have made changes to the Mental Health Services Dataset to measure performance against the standard for Early Intervention in Psychosis.

Haematological Cancer

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that all blood cancer patients have access to a clinical nurse specialist or equivalent point of contact as part of their care.

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that the post-treatment recovery package is adapted to meet the specific needs of blood cancer patients.

Jane Ellison: The independent Cancer Taskforce published its report, Achieving World Class Cancer Outcomes: A Strategy for England 2015-2020, in July 2015, and recognised the need to improve care and support for people living with and beyond all types of cancer, including blood cancers. In September 2015, we announced that by 2020, the 280,000 people diagnosed with cancer every year will benefit from a tailored recovery package. The packages will be individually designed to help each person, including those with blood cancer, live well beyond cancer. In April 2016, we also published guidance for commissioners on commissioning and implementing the recovery package effectively. Support for patients living with and beyond cancer should be tailored specifically to the needs of every patient. In addition the strategy called for every person with cancer to have access to a clinical nurse specialist or other key worker from diagnosis onwards. NHS England is currently working with partners across the health system to determine how best to take forward the recommendations of the Cancer Taskforce, and has appointed Cally Palmer CBE as National Cancer Director. A National Cancer Transformation Board is overseeing the implementation of the strategy, and an implementation plan will be published shortly. An independent Cancer Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Harpal Kumar, the Chief Executive of Cancer Research UK and Chair of the independent Cancer Taskforce, is advising and scrutinising the work of the Transformation Board.

PrescQIPP

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the role of the PrescQIPP Programme is within his Department.

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the role of the PrescQIPP Programme is in relation to clinical commissioning groups.

Alistair Burt: The PrescQIPP NHS Programme currently has no direct role within the Department as it is an independent social enterprise. Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) use its materials to improve the prescribing of medicines. These are mainly publicly available for CCGs and Health Boards, with some additional subscription-only content. Their governance and annual work programme is overseen by a strategic oversight group representing the users.

PrescQIPP

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what meetings and discussions he has had with representaives of the PrescQIPP Programme since May 2015.

Alistair Burt: The Department is not aware of any discussions or meetings the Secretary of State for Health has had with representatives of PrescQIPP.

Department of Health: Dairy Products

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of dairy products procured for his Department was sourced from British producers in the last period for which figures are available.

Jane Ellison: Details of dairy products procured for use in in the Department’s catering contract and sourced from British producers for the last reporting period, January to March 2016, are as follows:Dairy sub-categoryTotal spendBritish Spend Butter£297.30£0.000%Cheese£4,244.55£2,547.6160%Cream£184.59£184.59100%Milk£7,148.74£7,148.74100%Yoghurt£1,997.24£1,997.24100%

National Food Crime Unit

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many incidents of each type were reported to the Food Crime Unit in the last period for which figures are available.

Jane Ellison: The Food Standards Agency provided the following Figures for the period 1 January 2015 to 18 March 2016 in the table below. The categories given represent the highest available level of detail. Food/feed typeNumber of reportsMeat, poultry and meat products349Alcohol171Supplements and nutritional products69Fish and shellfish62Food business and hygiene issues50Prepared foods27Dairy products15Herbs, spices, seeds and nuts (including powders)13Oils, sweeteners, preservatives and sauces13Fruit and vegetables10Eggs and egg products8Pet food and animal feed4Non-alcoholic drinks2

Pharmacy: Finance

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much his Department allocated to the community pharmacy contractual framework in each of the last five years.

Alistair Burt: The funding agreed for the community pharmacy contractual framework by the Department and, from 2013-14, by NHS England was:2011-12 £2.526 billion2012-13 £2.486 billion2013-14 £2.8 billion2014-15 £2.8 billion2015-16 £2.8 billion

Cancer: Drugs

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to involve stakeholders in developing the operational detail of the new Cancer Drugs Fund.

George Freeman: NHS England is responsible for the operational management of the Cancer Drugs Fund and has advised that it is continuing to engage with stakeholders, building on the feedback received during the recent public consultation. A number of engagement activities, including a series of focus groups involving charity and industry stakeholders, will be held during the coming weeks as NHS England continues to shape the operational detail of the new arrangements for the Cancer Drugs Fund.

Imports: Radon Gas

Anne Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps are taken to monitor levels of radon in imported goods.

Anne Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which body is responsible for monitoring levels of radon in food products.

Jane Ellison: It is very unlikely that radon would be present in food at levels which would present a risk to consumers. There is, therefore, no requirement to monitor food products for levels of radon (with the exception of bottled water under European Directive 2013/51/Euratom). Radon has a half-life of 3.8 days so if any radon was present at time of manufacture, it is likely to be significantly reduced by the time a product imported into the European Union reaches consumers.Food business operators have a responsibility to ensure that food is safe to eat before placing it on the market. The Food Standards Agency is the government department with the responsibility for food safety, including radiological safety. Local food authorities are responsible for appropriate monitoring of radon in bottled water.

NHS: Finance

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reasons NHS England has not published details of which new specialised services, medicines and interventions it will fund in 2016-17; what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect on patients of such details not yet being provided; and if he will make a statement.

George Freeman: NHS England is currently undertaking a public consultation on how NHS England's Clinical Priorities Advisory Group (CPAG) will compare competing priorities for National Health Service funding. This consultation closes on 11 May 2016. Subject to the outcome of the consultation, CPAG plans to meet in June to agree recommendations on the relative prioritisation of new specialised services investments for funding in 2016/17. In the meantime NHS England continues to have a process in place to consider funding requests for services where there is a high level of clinical critical urgency. It will also consider individual funding requests where there may be a case for funding on the grounds of clinical exceptionality.

NHS: Finance

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if his Department will publish a (a) timeline, (b) methodology and (c) work programme for the evaluation and development by NHS England of draft commissioning policies for (i) medicines used outside of their licence, (ii) licensed medicines and (iii) service specifications for possible funding from April 2017.

George Freeman: NHS England has drafted a set of ‘methods documents’ to further refine the process by which new or revised clinical commissioning policies and service specifications are developed for specialised services. This covers the use of both licenced and unlicensed medicines, and has been refined based on clinical and wider stakeholder feedback during 2015/16.Since the methods documents need to include the process by which proposals requiring additional investment will be submitted for prioritisation, the methods documents will be finalised and made available to stakeholders following the outcome of the current public consultation on the method to be used by the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group when comparing competing specialised services priorities for National Health Service funding.

Social Services: Finance

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of Better Care Fund funding was allocated to social care in England in the first quarter of 2015-16.

Alistair Burt: The information requested is not collected nationally. The overall size of the Better Care Fund (BCF) in 2015-16 is £5.3 billion. A published analysis of the BCF plans indicated that local areas were planning to allocate £2.3 billion to social care (43% of total planned expenditure) over 2015-16.

Mental Health Services: Inspections

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his Department's target was for the number of qualified mental health trust inspectors in each year since 2010; and how many such inspectors were employed by the Care Quality Commission in each of those years.

Ben Gummer: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England and is responsible for identifying its own staffing requirements and recruiting suitably qualified people. The Department has not set the CQC targets for the recruitment of inspectors. The CQC has provided the following information.The term ‘qualified mental health inspector’ is not one that is used by the CQC. Part of the person specification used in the recruitment of new inspectors for mental health services is that applicants have a background in mental health, learning disability, or substance misuse.The CQC is only able to provide figures from April 2014 onwards. Prior to this, the CQC inspectors were not organised into specialist teams and were simply classified as “inspectors”. The CQC planned to recruit 149 inspectors by April 2016.Number of full time equivalent mental health inspectors employed by the CQC1 April 201429.51 April 201570.61 April 2016126.5

Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust: Inspections

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with the Care Quality Commission on the findings of its mock inspection of Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust's Slade House site in 2012.

Ben Gummer: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) does not conduct mock-inspections. The CQC compliance report on Slade House, published in 2012, was conducted under its previous inspection methodology. The inspection found that the facility was meeting the essential standards of care it looked at. The Department did not discuss the report’s findings with the CQC. From 2014, the CQC started introducing a new inspection methodology to mental health services which makes use of a higher-skilled inspection team that includes specialist inspectors, clinical and other experts, and people with experience of care. The findings of these new inspections give patients and the public a more authoritative and comprehensive view of the quality of care provided by health and adult social care providers.

General Practitioners: North West

Julie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the report, General Practice Forward View, published in April 2016, how much of the £2.4 billion increased funding for GP surgeries will be spent in Lancashire and the North West.

Alistair Burt: How much of this funding which will be spent in Lancashire and the North West will depend on future decisions by NHS England and the local clinical commissioning groups.Local primary care allocations are published on the NHS England website at:https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/pc-medical-allocations.pdf

Mental Health Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many safeguarding alerts regarding mental health trusts there have been in each year since 2010; and how many and what proportion of those alerts were acted upon within the Care Quality Commission's two-day target.

Ben Gummer: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England. Safeguarding is a key priority for the CQC and people who use services are at the heart of what it does. The CQC has provided the following information. The CQC does not have a two-day target for dealing with safeguarding alerts. The relevant Key Performance Indicator (KPI) stipulates that if the alert needs to be referred to the safeguarding authority, this must be done within one day of receipt. Otherwise, one of three other mandatory actions must be taken within five days. These actions are: There was other contact with the provider; Discussed issue with the local safeguarding team; Noted for the next planned inspection of the provider. For the purposes of this answer, the CQC has defined mental health trust as providers with primary inspection category that covers National Health Service mental health services in a community and residential setting. Number of Safeguarding Alerts, by Financial Year* Action Taken2011-122012-132013-142014-152015-16 Alert within KPI1051826557 Alert later than KPI138806913 Other Action/No Action required177531198 Data quality issues**01101 Total2816519415379  Percentage of Safeguarding Alerts, by Financial Year*** Action Taken2011-122012-132013-142014-152015-16 Alert within KPI36%31%42%43%72% Alert later than KPI4%23%41%45%17% Other Action/No Action required61%45%16%12%10% Data quality issues** 1%1% 1% Total101%100%100%100%100%  * CQC does not hold data prior to the financial year 2011/12.** A small number of records have a date of action being taken prior to the created date. These are treated as data quality issues and excluded from the KPI calculation.*** All percentages rounded to whole numbers which may sum to more than 100%.

Mental Health Services: Inspections

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many and what proportion of reports of Care Quality Commission inspections of mental health trusts have been produced within the Care Quality Commission's 50-day target in each year since 2010.

Ben Gummer: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England and has provided the following information.The 50 day key performance indicator target for publishing inspection reports was introduced by the CQC in 2014, when its new approach to inspections was introduced.Number of mental health trust reports published within 50 days since the introduction of the CQC’s new approach to inspections in January 2014. 201420152016Reports published122615Within 50 days62250 day percentage50%8%13%Within 65 days99565 day percentage75%35%33%

Care Quality Commission: Performance Standards

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what (a) baselines and (b) targets are used to measure the performance of the Care Quality Commission.

Ben Gummer: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has developed baseline performance indicators across its functions which are included in the Business Plan for 2016-17 together with the relevant indicators and targets to measure progress. The CQC will publish the business plan on its website shortly.

Health Professions: Higher Education

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the impact assessment of reforms to funding and financial support to nursing, midwifery and AHP bursary students, dated 7 April 2016, considered the costs to higher education institutions of access agreement contributions approved by the Director of Fair Access to Higher Education.

Ben Gummer: The impact assessment for the health education funding reforms estimates the combined income to higher education institutions from tuition fees and teaching grant, including an average reduction for the cost of access agreements.

Asperger's Syndrome and Autism

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which branch of the NHS has responsibility for funding the diagnosing of (a) autism and (b) Asperger's syndrome.

Alistair Burt: Clinical diagnosis of autism and Asperger syndrome would usually be made by National Health Service paediatric, psychiatric or mental health services, commissioned by clinical commissioning groups. The exception would be where a diagnosis was made by a specialised service, which would be commissioned by NHS England. Professionals funded by local authorities (such as educational psychologists) may also make a diagnosis.

Strokes

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many stroke survivors are in receipt of social care funded by their local authority.

Alistair Burt: Information collected as part of the Short and Long Term (SALT) data return indicates that in 76 out of 152 local authorities in England 10,545 people who have a reported health condition of stroke received support from their local authority in 2014/15. However, recovering from having a stroke might not be the reason people are receiving this support from their local authority as they might have other conditions as well. The reason for the partial data return is that this is a voluntary data collection by local authorities.

Strokes: Health Services

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information he holds on the numbers of clinical commissioning groups in England which have reconfigured acute stroke services since the publication of the National Stroke Strategy in December 2007.

Jane Ellison: Information is not collected centrally on the numbers of clinical commissioning groups in England which have reconfigured acute stroke services since the publication of the National Stroke Strategy in December 2007.

Mental Health Services: Children

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much of the Government's allocation of £1.4 billion mental health funding for children and young people will be spent in 2016-17; and if he will provide a detailed breakdown of that expenditure.

Alistair Burt: Of the £1.4 billion additional funding made available over the course of this parliament to improve children and young people’s mental health, £280 million has been allocated for 2016-17. The breakdown of this investment is as follows:- £119 million has been allocated to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to transform local services through delivery of their local transformation plans;- £30 million has been allocated to CCGs to develop community based eating disorder services for children and young people; and- £131 million has been allocated centrally on workforce and system development to support local transformation plans.

Department of Health: Conditions of Employment

Paula Sherriff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many civil servants in his Department are paid through limited companies.

Jane Ellison: All civil servants employed by the core Department are paid via its payroll system.

NHS: Conditions of Employment

Paula Sherriff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his policy is on the payment of senior NHS staff through limited companies; and what estimate he has made of the number of senior NHS staff paid off-payroll.

Alistair Burt: Our policy is to comply with the guidance from HM Treasury on senior staff engaged on an off-payroll basis. Engaging staff off-payroll can be a useful flexibility for employers but the guidance is clear that the most senior staff should be on the payroll of the organisation they lead, except in exceptional circumstances and then for no more than six months. The latest figure for staff in National Health Service trusts within the scope of the Treasury guidance indicate there were 1,193 off-payroll staff in 2014/15. The latest figure for NHS foundation trusts was 1,109 in 2013/14. These figures may include staff engaged off-payroll other than through limited companies. Figures for staff in clinical commissioning groups are not collected centrally.